Sentimental mum with desire to restrict kid, initially (7)
I believe the answer is:
mawkish
'sentimental' is the definition.
(I know that sentimental can be written as mawkish)
'mum with desire to restrict kid initially' is the wordplay.
'mum' becomes 'ma' (ma can mean mother).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'desire' becomes 'wish' (wish is a kind of desire).
'to restrict' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'kid' is 'k'.
'wish' going around 'k' is 'wkish'.
'ma'+'wkish'='MAWKISH'
(Other definitions for mawkish that I've seen before include "Insipid; maudlin" , "Sentimental in maudlin way" , "Sentimental, schmaltzy" , "Soppy" , "Falsely sentimental" .)